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Michael Caine Says It All
I’m late coming to this, but as the first anniversary of the vote on Brexit approaches — June 23 is the date — I see that the actor Sir Michael Caine caused a furor a few weeks ago. Caine’s crime? Admitting that he had voted for Brexit. “For me,” Caine said, “it was about freedom. I’d rather be a poor master than a rich servant.”
In a single sentence, Caine summed up the entire case for Brexit — and several centuries of the sheer groundedness and common sense of the ordinary Briton.
Published in Foreign Policy
If you haven’t read Michael Caine’s most recent autobiography, you are missing out. Better yet, listen to him read it on Audible. Great stuff.
Satan.
“Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven.” Milton, Paradise Lost
(and I’m in favor of Brexit, but the quote can be awkward)
Of course there was a furor. He had the cheek to speak truth in a world where that is now verboten.
It’ll be interesting to see how it affects whatever’s left of his acting career.
It is hard to say that Michael Caine is under appreciated, but he is probably the most prolific actor ever.
I knew there was something I liked about him.
There is no such thing as a “poor master.”
You seem to not understand what Caine meant by master.Enlighten me.
Some people seem to think that wealth and freedom are separable. They are not.
I think Caine’s intent here is that a man who is his own master, who has liberty, is better off than even the most well off slave. Regardless of his personal circumstances.
For us here in Switzerland (non-EU, non-Euro, but unfortunately in Schengen), we are wishing the Brits Godspeed in their forthcoming negotiations. They must be willing at all times to walk away from the table. This is the only way to deal with Brussels.
My British friends here are to the man pro-Brexit. They are like Michael Caine. They all recognize the likely economic pain for a while, but believe that in the long term, avoiding the EU overhead, regulations and outright stupidity (e.g., Schengen, lunatic immigration and asylum policies, the Euro) will work to make them the best performers in Europe. Would they rejoin if, by magic, the EU returned to being the EEC? Very likely.
That is the first thing that came to my mind in reading Cain’s quote.
Michael Caine’s quote capsulizes why I am so disappointed in Scotland and their lack of support for Brexit. If anyone I know there voted for Brexit they have held their tongues. All the voices I hear from there are still loudly against it.
I’ll be there for the June 8 election by the way
I know I’m not the only one who read that Michael Cain quote in Michael Caine’s voice.
I took it to mean that. I don’t agree with it. It sounds nice, but I don’t agree with it.
I borrowed it from the library and read it. I enjoyed it a lot, but I know it definitely would have been even better if I had the audiobook of him. If you watch any interviews with him, Caine’s always a fun and very eager storyteller.
The Milton quote is not on point. Think Patrick Henry instead.
I think that this is why Brexit resonated so strongly with American conservatives.
Biggie Smalls (RIP) understands Caine’s point. Why can’t you?
As I claim the title of Ricochet’s #1 SciFi nerd, I also want to reference the Talosian’s concession speech to Captain Pike in Star Trek: The Cage:
Of course, Pike eventually returned to Talos IV, as only the Talosians could heal his crippling injuries. But I do not view this as a return to captivity. The Talosians gave up on their effort to enslave humans, and I interpret their later benevolence to Pike as recompense for their prior wrong. You know, as if the EU entered into a free trade agreement with the UK after Brexit.
So you’re a progressive who believes material wealth is more important than liberty?
This is my shocked face.
They are.
Heaven is Iowa, not the EU.
@Annefy one of the big supporters of Brexit was the Scottish Fishing industry or whats left of it. They sponsored Lexit the movie.
The Scots are a strange group. The British at one time always made sure that not all the Highland Regiments were in Scotland at the same time. I believe that was not due to British fears of them marching on London, the fear was that they would turn on each other and deprive Britain of a good deal of their military strength.
Understood. But the majority of the country overwhelmingly voted stay. Now they are talking about leaving the U.K. so they can join the EU
I could respect a desire for self-determination, but I haven’t seen any of that from the people I know condemning the Brexit vote
I think their hatred for England is clouding their judgment.
I am sick to death of friends and relatives from Scotland clogging my FB feed with anti-Trump screeds, so I will be listening a lot more than talking while I am there. I am hoping to understand their thinking better.
Material wealth is an indicator of liberty. Do you think that the resident’s of Garbut, NY are more free than an office manager in Shanghai?
Absolutely I do.
Exactly. There is no room for dissent in the PRC. Being that high up in the company may be dependent on being a party member anyways, especially if it is a state owned company.
From “Zulu.”